February 17, 2004

Look Ma Both Hands!

Every once in awhile when I need a break from nursing, Ken really enjoys feeding Kate a bottle. Unfortunately for him as of a few weeks ago it looks like he may be out of a job. At least he has his "remote" hand free so he and Kate can channel surf together while she eats.

February 12, 2004

4 Months and 4 Shots

Today was another day of 4 immunization shots -- Prevnar, Hib, OPV/IPV and DTP/DTaP/DT/Td -- to dread. Although Kate was great through the whole experience, it was extremely painful for us to watch. Today's nurse was VERY slow at administering each shot. It seemed like the torture would never end. The nurses that make it a quick process -- boom, boom, boom, boom -- are the best. Where was that nurse today?

Coincidentally, on a baby show I saw recently I learned that some doctor's office use Ethyl Chloride to cool and numb the area before a shot. The company that makes this product says that it should ease the anxiety of shots for parent and child and that there will be no more bad memories of painful shots again. Hello?!? I think it should be mandatory for every pediatrician's office to have this stuff!

Anyway, this time we did something a little different to try to calm Kate after her shots. Instead of nursing her, Ken tried to soothe Kate by holding her and talking to her. The tears lasted a little longer than normal, but it still worked very well. We know she's still a baby, but we don't want Kate to start to connect pain or distress with eating. We don't want her to turn into an emotional eater as Dr. Phil would say. Sure Kate will probably still reach for that Rocky Road after a bad break up, but at least the therapist won't track it back to her mother nursing her after emotional, nasty shots. :-)

As always we took a few pictures of Kate prior to the shots. She was in very good spirits...before the shots. Pictures at the doctor's office has become our tradition. They are a good monthly marker of Kate's development and show how big she's gotten that past month. Speaking of, Kate weighed in at 13 lbs. 7 oz. and 25 inches. The doctor said she's right on track, and at next month's visit we're going to discuss starting Kate on some rice cereal.

February 08, 2004

The Ladybug Book

Want to see Kate's face light up in mere seconds? Just pull out her new favorite book, Fly-away Ladybug by Lamaze. It's a cute little eight-page soft book that tells the tale of Mama Ladybug as she journeys through the forest. Kate just loves the bright colors, the crunchy paper cover and the six dangling legs of Mama Ladybug. The feet fit perfectly into her little mouth. Here's a picture of Kate sharing her new favorite book with Uncle Kevin.

February 01, 2004

Toes Caught on Tape

On this lazy Sunday afternoon I was able to capture some great video of Kate hanging out on her changing table playing with her hands and feet. Her feet made it to her face, but you'll have to watch closely to see her toes actually make it into her mouth. Maybe she had a hard time trying to figure out which foot (or hand) to put in first. As you can plainly see, she was really hamming it up for me and the camera. Quite a clever little camera flirt for only being 6 days shy of 4 months old.

A Tasty Hand Sandwich

Although we haven't had much time to post lately, Kate has been her wonderful self. There isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't do something new and amazing. One of her latest milestones has been exploring things with her mouth. She especially loves her her hands and her feet.

One of Kate's favorite places is her changing table. She just loves to hang out here butt naked. Sometimes she smiles at the fan. Sometimes she chats with animal friends that we pulled of her mobile and stuck between the blinds. And sometimes she just likes to chill out while she sucks on her fingers and toes.